A motor vehicle occupant can encounter an emergency in which it is necessary to rapidly escape the motor vehicle. In such emergencies, it may be necessary to quickly cut a seatbelt strap and to break out a window in order to escape from an overturned or submerged vehicle. In the aftermath of an accident or when a vehicle is submerged, doors and windows are typically jammed or inoperative. In such an emergency situation, seat belts are often under tension which may render a seatbelt buckle release mechanism inoperative. During such emergencies, a vehicle occupant may be under extreme emotional and physical stress and thus may lack concentration to perform complex tasks or lack manual dexterity to perform intricate mechanical operations. Accordingly, what is needed is a tool which may be easily and quickly grasped by the vehicle occupant and which, the vehicle occupant may, with gross motor movements and limited dexterity, with either hand, perform simple tasks such as cutting seat belts and breaking out a car window with the utmost speed. Since the tool may be the only useful item carried by the escaping occupant, it would also be advantageous if the tool included a compartment for carrying survival items. Moreover, since the tool may be used in a remote location, at night, in a condition of total darkness, it would also be highly advantageous if the tool included at least one integral light source for illuminating the above described emergency tasks.